Technically it's called a "hydrostatic body fat test." You get weighed on land, and then weighed under water after emptying your lungs of air. Lean body mass sinks, but fat floats. So using some formulas they can figure out what your lean body mass weighs, and the rest is good old fat. It's only scary because it's so accurate -- no fudging on this thing. Takes 15 minutes, and costs $40 at the place I go to. I did NOT get good news this morning on the fat front. Did fine on the lean mass, but all those beers are finding their way into my belly fat. Sigh.

So I ran a mile instead of Insanity two days ago, then took a day off yesterday, and now am taking another day off. I'm just feeling sluggish and totally unmotivated. I think I'm PMSing, so I really hope that's all, because I've been doing pretty awesome for the past 3+ weeks. Just telling myself that I can have this one more day, but no matter how much I don't want to do it tomorrow, I'm going to suck it up and do it anyway. Argggghhh.

Bonking sucks. I'm feeling hugely sluggish today too. Friday I started counting calories again, sigh. I hate it, but it's the only way I know to lose weight. So I dropped a pound Friday and another pound yesterday. I know, it's probably mostly water weight but I still want it off. That's probably why I'm feeling sluggish! I'm gonna lose 5 lbs in the next 7 days so when I start BEAST I'm skinny and hopefully will add muscle on that skinny frame.

Yeah I know. I need tons of energy to work out so I can only create a moderate calorie deficiency, pretty much what they recommend anyway. Over 10 days, 2-3 pounds of water and stuffing, and 2-3 lbs of fat should be doable.

Hey I did max cardio conditioning today, the first Max workout I've done. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting! It's pretty nonstop, but a lot of the moves are gentler and just kind of hold the heart rate up, versus killing you. I liked it. I took plenty of breaks though -- it will be a while before I could ever get through it keeping up with Shaun T...

Oh my god.Today was day 1 of Week 6. Meaning - fit test AND max interval circuit (which is an hour, I didn't know till I started). Oh my god it was the hardest thing I've ever done! The full body drills?! Each rep is a suicide jump into 8 runs in plank, 4 moving push-ups, 8 wide runs, jump back up -- THAT'S ONE. It was insane. And it was so long! Everyone in the video was on their backs at the end, just puddles of sweat.

Holy schmoley! Who can do that stuff. You should get a day off just for doing that.I'm leaving today on a week camping trip with my little toddler! Will either be great or I'll be back tomorrow. Fingers crossed on the sleep situation...

Has anyone on here done the max circuit yet? I forgot to mention, how in god's name do you do the s-jumps in plank? You know, the one that makes everyone look like they're breakdancing, and somehow they keep their legs up for like 10 secs? It's gravity defying.

Sorry to post so many in a row but I had to comment on my 2nd day of maxing out! Max interval plyo. Yup, this one's a bisque too (and also almost an hour)! So, Level 3 Drills exist, and it's 16 push-ups and 16 plank runs. I could only do one set; it's too fast. Those side-to-side plank jumps were in the warm-up again, and I just cannot breakdance guys! Hopefully in time I can do it. Lots of new people in these videos (why is the one wearing a hat? They're indoors and sweating like hell!). I feel sorer than I did in the first month. Oof.

This is some crazy shitake.I did my first Body Beast workout today. It was Chest and Triceps. Just those two groups, for 45 minutes. I'm actually really scared of what I'm going to feel like in about 48 hours. I wonder if I'll even be able to hold a toothbrush...I'm gonna start taking my vegan creatine today too. From everything I could read it should help, and not bring badness. I also gotta take up my protein intake. Normally I eat 100 grams every day and then I don't worry about the rest of my calories, but they're saying go to 200 grams protein. I'm not sure how I'd do that unless I tether myself to an IV drip of protein shake. Maybe I'll see if I can get to 150. I've got the sprouter fully loaded down in the basement and the pantry's full of beans.

Ahh that's a lot of protein! Do what feels right for you and not just what they recommend. Hope you're not crazy sore but you prob will be :)Keep us posted. You might be the first PPKer to do the Beast!

I signed up for Boot Camp 2-3 evenings a week, continuing with Insanity mornings. I know it's probably not smart but I'm not getting the results I want otherwise. Only had it once so far (went yesterday) and it was fine, not too hard bc it was boxing class. Tomorrow is circuit training so that will be a beast, with max interval circuit in the morn. We'll see how many weeks I last!

You are really pouring it on Randi! Two hard cardio workouts every day is intense. Are you micromanaging your calories?

I've learned a ton from doing all this reading about calories -- in "The Book of Beast" but also on various bodybuilding sites. What these guys go through to get bulked up and then shredded is pretty intense, in terms of managing not just total calories, but getting the right grams of fat, protein, and carb to match up to what they are doing that day, and then taking supplements at exactly the right times before and after working out. It's a lot of work! Fortunately I don't have to do all that, but I'm gonna try to do some so I get the results.

Oh, it turns out there is a side effect of creatine, and it's inevitable: water retention. I know! Two words guaranteed to strike fear in the heart of any woman, or probably anyone who works out. But creatine makes you retain water, no way around it. It's supposedly really important for the muscles, in terms of transporting the amino acids there right when you need them. So I'm going to plump up whether I want to or not. Bah!

Oh that sucks about the water retention! But if it's necessary then it's necessary! Try not to worry about it. I'm not micro-managing but I probably should at least pay a little more attention to the details. I don't want to get bogged down in that so we'll see how I feel.

I've got a little spreadsheet open on my laptop all day where I key in what I eat. My diet is pretty boring, so I'm mostly just cutting from yesterday's list and pasting into today's. It's got a running total at the bottom so I can keep track of total grams of stuff, and the % from protein, fat, and carbs. So for example I know that so far today, at 10:30am out here, I've had 690 calories, including 46 grams of protein which provided 27% of my calories, which is great. Fat was only 18% so far, and I need to keep it at 20% of calories or below, so I know I'm doing OK so far today. I need to keep the calories under control so I can have my glass of wine with dinner and not exceed the total budget which for me will be 2700 today. Wife thinks I'm nuts, but how else would you manage this? I can't figure out an easier way.

I guess if that works for you that's great! Damn. I am feeling ok enough to just eat how I normally do (green smoothies with protein for bfast, then bean-heavy AFR or like recipes the rest of the day) without keeping track like that. I know that mentally I'm better off avoiding very detailed record-keeping, but we'll see if physically I need to make the switch. Oh and I had the real boot camp this evening. I was so nervous about being exhausted from the max circuit, but I felt and did really well! Yay! It was like a medium workout compared to Insanity so I think I should be able to do it. I wanted to yell at the instructor bc we were doing scissors and his legs were super bent, so everyone else was following him and letting their legs bend, and I was like duuude! He saw me with my legs straight, feet flexed (thanks Tony!) and was like, 'nice form.' I was like, wish I could say the same. :P Now I have a big head. hahah.

You owned the boot camp instructor! Nice. Next time say "that's what I want, that's what I wan-tah!!"

I just did Beast Back and Biceps. This isn't P90X anymore. I like to think I'm a mini pull-up boy, you know, like Tony, banging out 10 pull-ups at the end of Legs & Back workout. But at the end of today's back section on Beast, on the last set of pull-ups, I couldn't do a single one. Not even one. I was just hanging there humiliated, a bit of drool on my chest. I used my foot and did 10 assisted ones until I couldn't even get my chin above the bar. On the biceps, I was whimpering like a little baby with 15lbs at the end. I think the Beast is going to work!

So week 1 of the Beast is done, and I'm starting week 2 today. Strangely, I actually lost weight during the week. Despite a big increase in calories. I'm hoping it's been a rearranging of things, water and fat out, and muscle in. I certainly feel, and look, a little more buff, after even 1 week. The cardio was a trip -- imagine doing some of the Insanity moves, like basketball jumps, only holding 10lb dumbbells. I would have never made it through if I hadn't been doing Insanity. As it was, it wasn't too hard. The Ab workout was easy -- 8 minutes of pretty basic moves -- I think I'll just do ab ripper from now on.